The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

DAMIAN Stubbs, the father of 17-year-old Diamond Stubbs, says he has forgiven the 19-year-old driver charged over the Shirley Street crash that killed his daughter and four other teenagers, softening the anger he felt in the raw days after the country’s deadliest traffic accident in at least two decades.

Mr Stubbs previously demanded justice for Diamond and the other teenage girls who died after a Mazda sedan carrying eight people slammed into a tree at the intersection of Shirley Street and Church Street on June 28.

But as Marcus Thacker Jr, the 19-year-old driver, now faces five counts of vehicular manslaughter, Mr Stubbs said his grief has shifted.

“I was really angry, but as time goes by, I'm starting to now feel sorry for him because it could have been my daughter driving that car,” Mr Stubbs said. “No matter where they were going or where they were coming from, all of those kids who was in the car was going to be in the car together.”

“If my daughter had lived after all of this, she would still say, ‘Daddy, we have to forgive Marcus.’

Asked what he would say to Thacker if given the chance, Mr Stubbs said: “I'll tell him I forgive him, but you know definitely I would have want to ask questions.”

The crash killed Diamond, Stania Webb, 17, Keno Gordon Jr, 19, Bertrica Brown, 18, and Evalena Johnson, 19. Bianca Mathurin and Shawn Thurston, 21, remain in hospital recovering from their injuries.

The tragedy tore through families with deep ties to one another. Diamond, Bertrica, Stania, Keno and Marcus grew up together on Cat Island, sharing bonds that stretched across households.

“My daughter Diamond,” Mr Stubbs said, “if she was alive, she would have been calling the driver’s daddy uncle, because that's all she knows him as uncle.”

He said the girls viewed Thacker as a big brother.

Mr Stubbs said he could not be angry at the driver even if he wanted to, though he still wrestles with painful questions about the speed of the car.

Some people have criticised the group for travelling eight-deep in one car. Mr Stubbs rejected the idea that the outcome would have changed easily, saying the girls were so close they would not have willingly split into different vehicles.

“We train our children not leave each other behind,” he said.

As the families prepare to bury their children, Stanley Webb, Stania’s father, has begun building mausoleums for his daughter and Diamond, who were best friends, so they can be laid side by side. He has been helped by his two older sons and a group of local volunteers.

Mr Stubbs said watching people rally around the families has been overwhelming. He said the families made it clear Diamond and Stania would not be separated. While Mr Webb focuses on the burial site on Cat Island, Mr Stubbs has been in New Providence handling funeral arrangements.

“The hardest part of my kid’s death was sitting in the funeral home trying to pick out a casket, and to hear them discuss what's going to look good on the children,” he said, adding that he cannot bear to discuss dressing his daughter for burial.

He said his wife, Natalie Stubbs, was emotionally shattered after learning their daughter had died. She stopped speaking to people and turned off her phone, though he said she began to make some progress on Tuesday.

The couple have three other children: Damian Jr, 23, Dominic, 16, and Trinity, 11. Mr Stubbs said Trinity, their youngest daughter, has helped hold the family together.

He described Diamond as more than a daughter. She was his dear friend, especially during difficult times, and the peacemaker who helped bind the family together.

Diamond had graduated as valedictorian and head girl of Old Bight High School just two weeks before the crash. Relatives and school officials said she had a future loaded with promise. She was expected to receive about five scholarships and planned to attend Langston University.

Mr Stubbs said Diamond was intelligent, generous and committed to helping others in the community, at school and at church. She wanted to major in criminal justice.

He recalled watching an emotional video of the last song Diamond sang to him during a Father’s Day church service: “Goodness of God.”

“I didn't know that was going to be the last song,” he said.